Perhaps their hours are 9-5 or 9-6. That would make the notice 23 minutes after arriving. That seems like a respectable response time to assess and reply. You don't want to say "We have problem and it will be resolved in 15 minutes" after 3 minutes if you don't even know what it is yet.

Maybe an "on-call" alarm would work. But would someone rush to the office at 2:23 AM to attempt to resolve the problem? Because I know a "We have a problem. We'll work on it when we return to the office" post would NOT go over well.

It's a sim game. A delayed sim isn't the end of the world.

The way these "alarms" work, as I undertand them, is the hardware failure itself triggers an instant, robotic, generic, universal notice to the customer base. No human intervention required. No need to quibble over the language of said notice. Something like: "Dear HBDers: We have a hardware problem and will address it as quickly as we can. In the meantime game simulations will be delayed. We will keep you updated." I think the great majority of customers would be accepting and appreciative of such a minimal, but timely, notice. It's just Marketing 101. Don't appear defensive or reactive. Don't go silent. Don't appear to be holding your customers at bay. Show your customers respect. Communicate with them. Not only is that good customer relations; it's also good manners.

Perhaps their hours are 9-5 or 9-6. That would make the notice 23 minutes after arriving. That seems like a respectable response time to assess and reply. You don't want to say "We have problem and it will be resolved in 15 minutes" after 3 minutes if you don't even know what it is yet.

Maybe an "on-call" alarm would work. But would someone rush to the office at 2:23 AM to attempt to resolve the problem? Because I know a "We have a problem. We'll work on it when we return to the office" post would NOT go over well.

It's a sim game. A delayed sim isn't the end of the world.

The way these "alarms" work, as I undertand them, is the hardware failure itself triggers an instant, robotic, generic, universal notice to the customer base. No human intervention required. No need to quibble over the language of said notice. Something like: "Dear HBDers: We have a hardware problem and will address it as quickly as we can. In the meantime game simulations will be delayed. We will keep you updated." I think the great majority of customers would be accepting and appreciative of such a minimal, but timely, notice. It's just Marketing 101. Don't appear defensive or reactive. Don't go silent. Don't appear to be holding your customers at bay. Show your customers respect. Communicate with them. Not only is that good customer relations; it's also good manners.

Having been here since the beginning of HBD, I think I can say most users are fine with what happened last night. I'd say there are/were a handful who were unhappy. I'd venture that a handful of that handful would not be happy with anything less than an immediate sim of their games.

So how far does a company go to please a tiny percentage of their customer base?

Perhaps their hours are 9-5 or 9-6. That would make the notice 23 minutes after arriving. That seems like a respectable response time to assess and reply. You don't want to say "We have problem and it will be resolved in 15 minutes" after 3 minutes if you don't even know what it is yet.

Maybe an "on-call" alarm would work. But would someone rush to the office at 2:23 AM to attempt to resolve the problem? Because I know a "We have a problem. We'll work on it when we return to the office" post would NOT go over well.

It's a sim game. A delayed sim isn't the end of the world.

The way these "alarms" work, as I undertand them, is the hardware failure itself triggers an instant, robotic, generic, universal notice to the customer base. No human intervention required. No need to quibble over the language of said notice. Something like: "Dear HBDers: We have a hardware problem and will address it as quickly as we can. In the meantime game simulations will be delayed. We will keep you updated." I think the great majority of customers would be accepting and appreciative of such a minimal, but timely, notice. It's just Marketing 101. Don't appear defensive or reactive. Don't go silent. Don't appear to be holding your customers at bay. Show your customers respect. Communicate with them. Not only is that good customer relations; it's also good manners.

Q: "How far does a company go to please a tiny percentage of its customers base?" - MikeT23

A: The question is always a good one. And one that businesspeople grapple with all the time.

To answer the question literally, on its face, if it is indeed just a tiny percentage of your customer base, and you have verified that it is only a tiny percentage, and assumming you are not in a business with razor thin margins, then you can ignore the issue. Even if the entire tiny percentage of customers were to take their custom elsewhere you can afford to lose them and good riddance.

If it's something more than a tiny percentage it might be good management to research the issue a bit.

I think, in the present case, we are dealing with more than a tiny percentage of HBDers. Questions, complaints, and generalized vents regarding WIS's unreponsiveness regarding downtime during the off hours and on weekends and holidays are too commonplace and frequent to characterize the annoyed customers as a tiny percentage.

Since it may be possible to address the issue with a $35 "hardware failure alarm" (as discussed above) I am of the opinion that WIS ought to go ahead and spend the $35. Where's the harm? Even if MikeT23 is right and I and my vast regiment of HBD friends and supporters are merely a tiny percentage of HBD's even vaster customer base it's just $35. Even if MikeT23 is right and we're just a bunch of Chicken Littles, and that we all just "suck balls" (one of MikeT23's favorite compliments), we're customers too. Our $23.95 spends the same as MikeT23's $23.95. And, since we are nervous nellies, Chicken Littles, without lives of our own, monitoring our HBD team 24/7, and posting 365 HBD Forum posts per day, per person, we like to be talked to, we need reassurance, even if its just a bot's reassurance. Spend the $35 already!

Posted by tomfool on 5/15/2013 2:19:00 PM (view original):Q: "How far does a company go to please a tiny percentage of its customers base?" - MikeT23

A: The question is always a good one. And one that businesspeople grapple with all the time.

To answer the question literally, on its face, if it is indeed just a tiny percentage of your customer base, and you have verified that it is only a tiny percentage, and assumming you are not in a business with razor thin margins, then you can ignore the issue. Even if the entire tiny percentage of customers were to take their custom elsewhere you can afford to lose them and good riddance.

If it's something more than a tiny percentage it might be good management to research the issue a bit.

I think, in the present case, we are dealing with more than a tiny percentage of HBDers. Questions, complaints, and generalized vents regarding WIS's unreponsiveness regarding downtime during the off hours and on weekends and holidays are too commonplace and frequent to characterize the annoyed customers as a tiny percentage.

Since it may be possible to address the issue with a $35 "hardware failure alarm" (as discussed above) I am of the opinion that WIS ought to go ahead and spend the $35. Where's the harm? Even if MikeT23 is right and I and my vast regiment of HBD friends and supporters are merely a tiny percentage of HBD's even vaster customer base it's just $35. Even if MikeT23 is right and we're just a bunch of Chicken Littles, and that we all just "suck balls" (one of MikeT23's favorite compliments), we're customers too. Our $23.95 spends the same as MikeT23's $23.95. And, since we are nervous nellies, Chicken Littles, without lives of our own, monitoring our HBD team 24/7, and posting 365 HBD Forum posts per day, per person, we like to be talked to, we need reassurance, even if its just a bot's reassurance. Spend the $35 already!

Posted by tomfool on 5/15/2013 2:19:00 PM (view original):Q: "How far does a company go to please a tiny percentage of its customers base?" - MikeT23

A: The question is always a good one. And one that businesspeople grapple with all the time.

To answer the question literally, on its face, if it is indeed just a tiny percentage of your customer base, and you have verified that it is only a tiny percentage, and assumming you are not in a business with razor thin margins, then you can ignore the issue. Even if the entire tiny percentage of customers were to take their custom elsewhere you can afford to lose them and good riddance.

If it's something more than a tiny percentage it might be good management to research the issue a bit.

I think, in the present case, we are dealing with more than a tiny percentage of HBDers. Questions, complaints, and generalized vents regarding WIS's unreponsiveness regarding downtime during the off hours and on weekends and holidays are too commonplace and frequent to characterize the annoyed customers as a tiny percentage.

Since it may be possible to address the issue with a $35 "hardware failure alarm" (as discussed above) I am of the opinion that WIS ought to go ahead and spend the $35. Where's the harm? Even if MikeT23 is right and I and my vast regiment of HBD friends and supporters are merely a tiny percentage of HBD's even vaster customer base it's just $35. Even if MikeT23 is right and we're just a bunch of Chicken Littles, and that we all just "suck balls" (one of MikeT23's favorite compliments), we're customers too. Our $23.95 spends the same as MikeT23's $23.95. And, since we are nervous nellies, Chicken Littles, without lives of our own, monitoring our HBD team 24/7, and posting 365 HBD Forum posts per day, per person, we like to be talked to, we need reassurance, even if its just a bot's reassurance. Spend the $35 already!

You say it's $35. I don't know that to be fact. Please provide the source of your info and, while you're at it, send the info to WifS via a ticket. Maybe they don't know about this $35 warning device.

Nonetheless, despite having no life, monitoring my teams 24/7 and posting 365 times per day, my panties were a lot less wadded up than some with regards to a delayed sim time. In fact, I'd say my panties weren't wadded at all. Can you say the same?

Posted by tomfool on 5/15/2013 2:19:00 PM (view original):Q: "How far does a company go to please a tiny percentage of its customers base?" - MikeT23

A: The question is always a good one. And one that businesspeople grapple with all the time.

To answer the question literally, on its face, if it is indeed just a tiny percentage of your customer base, and you have verified that it is only a tiny percentage, and assumming you are not in a business with razor thin margins, then you can ignore the issue. Even if the entire tiny percentage of customers were to take their custom elsewhere you can afford to lose them and good riddance.

If it's something more than a tiny percentage it might be good management to research the issue a bit.

I think, in the present case, we are dealing with more than a tiny percentage of HBDers. Questions, complaints, and generalized vents regarding WIS's unreponsiveness regarding downtime during the off hours and on weekends and holidays are too commonplace and frequent to characterize the annoyed customers as a tiny percentage.

Since it may be possible to address the issue with a $35 "hardware failure alarm" (as discussed above) I am of the opinion that WIS ought to go ahead and spend the $35. Where's the harm? Even if MikeT23 is right and I and my vast regiment of HBD friends and supporters are merely a tiny percentage of HBD's even vaster customer base it's just $35. Even if MikeT23 is right and we're just a bunch of Chicken Littles, and that we all just "suck balls" (one of MikeT23's favorite compliments), we're customers too. Our $23.95 spends the same as MikeT23's $23.95. And, since we are nervous nellies, Chicken Littles, without lives of our own, monitoring our HBD team 24/7, and posting 365 HBD Forum posts per day, per person, we like to be talked to, we need reassurance, even if its just a bot's reassurance. Spend the $35 already!

I assume that you don't have a background in Information Technology.

That LAST THING that you want is a piece of hardware or software sending out automated messages to your customer base in response to some sort of failure. To your IT support staff, yes, definitely. But not to the customer. Those communications need to come from the IT staff after an initial triage of the problem, with additional updates disseminated after additional diagnosis has been done and a corrective plan of action has been determined.

WIS handled the communication in this instance appropriately. Whether they internally were notified of the problems and reacted in a timely manner is a separate question.

Posted by tomfool on 5/15/2013 2:19:00 PM (view original):Q: "How far does a company go to please a tiny percentage of its customers base?" - MikeT23

A: The question is always a good one. And one that businesspeople grapple with all the time.

To answer the question literally, on its face, if it is indeed just a tiny percentage of your customer base, and you have verified that it is only a tiny percentage, and assumming you are not in a business with razor thin margins, then you can ignore the issue. Even if the entire tiny percentage of customers were to take their custom elsewhere you can afford to lose them and good riddance.

If it's something more than a tiny percentage it might be good management to research the issue a bit.

I think, in the present case, we are dealing with more than a tiny percentage of HBDers. Questions, complaints, and generalized vents regarding WIS's unreponsiveness regarding downtime during the off hours and on weekends and holidays are too commonplace and frequent to characterize the annoyed customers as a tiny percentage.

Since it may be possible to address the issue with a $35 "hardware failure alarm" (as discussed above) I am of the opinion that WIS ought to go ahead and spend the $35. Where's the harm? Even if MikeT23 is right and I and my vast regiment of HBD friends and supporters are merely a tiny percentage of HBD's even vaster customer base it's just $35. Even if MikeT23 is right and we're just a bunch of Chicken Littles, and that we all just "suck balls" (one of MikeT23's favorite compliments), we're customers too. Our $23.95 spends the same as MikeT23's $23.95. And, since we are nervous nellies, Chicken Littles, without lives of our own, monitoring our HBD team 24/7, and posting 365 HBD Forum posts per day, per person, we like to be talked to, we need reassurance, even if its just a bot's reassurance. Spend the $35 already!

I assume that you don't have a background in Information Technology.

That LAST THING that you want is a piece of hardware or software sending out automated messages to your customer base in response to some sort of failure. To your IT support staff, yes, definitely. But not to the customer. Those communications need to come from the IT staff after an initial triage of the problem, with additional updates disseminated after additional diagnosis has been done and a corrective plan of action has been determined.

WIS handled the communication in this instance appropriately. Whether they internally were notified of the problems and reacted in a timely manner is a separate question.

something is still up in Erffdog world partner, doesnt show standing and a bunch of ???s in the area where it normally shows the box scores. May want to get all the kinks worked out before taking a victory lap on the boards....